Roof construction of buildings



Feb. 27, 1951 c. w. GLOVER ROOF cousmuc'rxou 0F BUILDINGS 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Feb. 25, 1947 Inventor Charles William 6 102787" Feb. 27, 1951c. w. GLOVER ROOF cous'muc'rxou or BUILDINGS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb.25, 1947 K s Q Q Z W m 1 7 .0,

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:Patented Feb. 27, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE- ROOF CONSTRUCTIONOF BUILDINGS Charles William Glover, London, England ApplicationFebruary 25, 1947, Serial No. 730,77 3

In Great Britain April 18, 1946 This invention relates to roofconstruction of buildings and is directed towards an improvement in theroof portion of the form of building which has preformed reinforcedconcrete members of angle form (hereinafter called ribs) which act asthree-pinned arches.

In this kind of building as heretofore constructed the apex hinge hasbeen formed by forming the ribs into round form at the ends makinghalved joints through which steelpins are inserted and transverse tiesat apex level have been provided by rods or tubes passing through thehinges.

From one aspect, in a roof construction according to this invention, thearches formed by pairs of ribs are connected by purlins supported ateach end by the ribs and connected by clamping means to the pivotal axisof the ribs.

From another aspect, the invention provides a roof construction in whichthe apex joint for the ribs comprises a pin preferably of steel mountedin co-operating recesses in the adjoining ends of the ribs, and theridge purlins are clamped to the ribs by means connected to the In atypical form, rods are screwed into the steel pin co-axially therewithand are bent at right angles to pass through the ends of the purlins, afishplate passing over the ends of the bent rods and being clamped bynuts threaded on the ends of the rods.

Other parts of the invention are embodied in the typical form which willnow b described in some detail with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a section on the line I-I of Fig. 2 through a preferred formof apex joint,

Fig. 2 is a section on the line II-II of Fig. 1.

In the form shown, ribs I of pre-cast reinforced concrete are arrangedin pairs at the desired roof angle with their adjoining ends 2 slightlyspaced. These ends 2 of the ribs l are formed with co-operatingsemi-cylindrical recesses 3 which engage a steel pin 4 wrapped roundwith bituminous felt 5.

A recess 6 is provided in each rib l to one side of the centre line toreceive a keeper bar 1 pro jecting from the other rib of the pair. Thiskeeper bar I is bent substantially into a semicircle with both ends castinto the rib so that when assembled the steel pin is encircled by thekeeper bars 1 on each rib. Each rib I has a recess 6 on one side of thecentre line and a keeper bar 1 equally spaced on the other side of thecentre line so that when two. ribs are ar- Claims. (Cl. 108-1) faces ofthe ribs.

2 ranged to form an arch, the keeper bar on each rib engages the recesson the other rib.

Steel rods l9 threaded at each end and bent at right angles are screwedinto threaded holes 8 co-axial with the steel pin so that the rodsextend for a short distance co-axial with the pin and then extendvertically upwards to above the top of th ribs.

The ends 9 of the ridge purlins It are shaped -to lie on the apex of theribs l with a portion I i extending downwards in close proximity to theBituminous felt I2 is interposed between the ridge purlins It and theribs l. Holes l3 are provided in the ends of the ridge l5 purlins toreceive the steel rods 19 which pass completely through the purlins.

A fish plate [4 connects the purlins ill on opposite sides of eachribarch, this fish plate engaging the ends of the steel rods [9 on whichnuts I5 are tightened to clamp the Durlins to the ribs. The fish plateis housed in recesses [6 in the top surfaces of the purlins and theserecesses are filled with bituminous mastic or other suitable material.

The purlins III are of concrete suitably reinforced as by reinforcingbars ll, [8. The reinforcing bars I8 at the bottom of the section may asshown be bent into an arc surrounding the hole 13 in the end of thepurlin. The ribs I are also suitably reinforced.

It will be seen that the ridge purlin acts as strut, tie and fixingpurlin. The keeper bars being cast in the ribs prevent the joint openingaccidentally or under reversal of stresses and the ridge pin bearsconcentrically on both frames.

It will be understood that the invention is not restricted to thedetails of the typical form described which may be modified withoutdeparting from the broad idea underlying the invention.

I claim:

1. In a roof construction of buildings, the combination of preformedreinforced concrete ribs of angle form arranged in pairs to form arches,the ribs having recesses in their adjoining ends, a pin extendingtransversely between said adjoining ends enabling the ribs to havepivotal movement, ridge purlins supported by the ribs and means carriedby the pin clamping the ridge purlins to the ribs.

2. In a roof construction of buildings, the combination of preformedreinforced concrete ribs of angle form arranged in pairs to form arches,the ribs having recesses in their adjoining ends, a pin extendingtransversely between said ad- Joining ends enabling the ribs to havepivotal movement, ridge purlins supported by the ribs, rod members fixedco-axially to the pin, said rod members being shaped to pass throughholes in the purlins, and clamping means on said rod members to clampthe ridge purlins to the ribs.

3. In a roof construction of buildings, the combination of preformedreinforced concrete ribs of angle form arranged in pairs to form arches,the ribs having recesses in their adjoining ends, a pin extendingtransersely between said adjoining ends enabling the ribs to havepivotal movement, ridge purlins supported by the ribs, rod membersshaped to provide two limbs at right angles, one of said limbs of eachrod being screw-connected to the pin, the other of said limbs passingupwardly through the purlins, a fish plate extending across the adjacentends of the purlins at each arch and nuts threaded on to the ends ofsaid rods clamping the purlins between the fish plates and the ribs.

4. In a roof construction of buildings, the combination of preformedreinforced concrete ribs of angle form arranged in pairs to form arches,the ribs having recesses in their adjoining ends, a pin mounted in therecesses to form a pivotal connection for the ribs, keeper barsencircling the pin, each of said keeper bars being fixed in the end ofone rib and engaging a recess in the end of the other rib of each pair,ridge purlins supported by the ribs and means carried by the pinclamping the ridge purlins to the ribs.

5. In a roof construction of buildings, the combination of preformedreinforced concrete ribs of angle form arranged in pairs to form arches,the ribs having recesses in their adjoining ends, a cylindrical pinmounted in the recesses and forming a pivotal connection for the ribs,keeper bars encircling the pin, each of the keeper bars being'fix'ed inthe end of one rib of a pair and engaging a recess in the end of theother rib, ridge purlins shaped at their ends to provide a portion lyingon the top of the arch and a portion extending down parallel to the faceof the arch, rod members fixed co-axially to the steel pin at each sideof the arches and shaped to pass outwardly from the pin under thedownwardly extending portions of the purlins and then upwardly throughholes in the ends of the purlins, fish plates extending across the endsof the purlins adjoining at each arch and engaging the ends of theupwardly directed portions of the rod members, and nuts threaded on tothe ends of the rod members clamping the ends of the purlins between thefish plates and the ribs.

CHARLES WILLIAM GLOVER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date France 1923 Number

